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Your Business. Your Family. Your Future.

Family Business Mini MBA

The Family Business Mini MBA blends core business education with the unique challenges of family ownership and leadership. Through discussion, case work, and a mix of in-person and virtual modules, you’ll gain insights to excel in your role and support your family’s business.

In the Family Business Mini MBA, you’ll learn how to make informed, strategic decisions while navigating the unique dynamics of your family business. Learn through family business case studies and group discussions designed to bring real-world situations into the classroom.

Our intentionally small class size ensures open discussion, peer-to-peer learning, and networking with other family business owners, leaders, and successors. There are no prerequisites for this program—owners, family members, and future successors at all stages are welcome.

  • Program Details
  • What You'll Learn

    • Program Details

    Program Format: Hybrid (In Person and Online)

    Cost: $7500

    CEUs (Continuing Education Units): 4.2

    Length of Program: 42 Contact Hours

    Program Structure: Meets 9 times

    Register for Upcoming Sessions:

    What You'll Learn

    • Balance family priorities with business performance
    • Create strategic plans that align ownership, leadership, and family goals
    • Understand accounting, finance, and marketing as they apply to your family business
    • Analyze market conditions while protecting family legacy and values
    • Lead people effectively, with attention to family and non-family employee dynamics
    • Clarify managerial and ownership responsibilities across the business and family system

    Program Details

    Program Format: Hybrid (In Person and Online)

    Cost: $7500

    CEUs (Continuing Education Units): 4.2

    Length of Program: 42 Contact Hours

    Program Structure: Meets 9 times

    Register for Upcoming Sessions:

    What You'll Learn

    • Balance family priorities with business performance
    • Create strategic plans that align ownership, leadership, and family goals
    • Understand accounting, finance, and marketing as they apply to your family business
    • Analyze market conditions while protecting family legacy and values
    • Lead people effectively, with attention to family and non-family employee dynamics
    • Clarify managerial and ownership responsibilities across the business and family system
    A student writes on a paper while holding a book during an Executive MBA Class.

    Is This Program Right For You?

    The Family Business Mini MBA is designed for members of family businesses who want to strengthen both their business knowledge and their ability to navigate family dynamics. It’s a practical introduction to business and ownership responsibilities in a family-enterprise setting.

    Common program participant roles include:

    • Family Business Owner
    • Next-Generation Successor
    • Shareholder or Board Member
    • General Manager
    • Operations Manager
    • HR Leader
    • Finance Manager
    • Marketing Director / Manager
    • Sales Manager
    • Project Manager

    Benefits of This Program

    Family Business Expertise

    This program is taught by St. Thomas faculty and local family business leaders who bring academic insight and family business experience. You’ll gain a balanced perspective that connects business theory with the realities of family businesses.

    Immediate Application

    You can expect to leave each session with practical skills, tools, and methodologies you can use right away. Apply new strategies in finance, leadership, and governance directly to your role and share them with your family and team.

    Peer Learning

    Work alongside participants from other family businesses, exploring challenges and opportunities that mirror your own. Practice skills, share experiences, and build a network of peers who understand your world.

    Prepared for Challenges

    Family businesses face unique pressures like succession, governance, and balancing priorities. Gain the confidence you need to tackle these challenges and strengthen both your family and business.

    The Complete Business Picture

    This program connects strategy, finance, leadership, and ownership, giving you a better understanding of how your role contributes to the health and future of the entire family business.

    Master Your Role

    Every participant plays a different part in the enterprise—owner, manager, or successor. Master your unique role so you can contribute more effectively to your family’s vision and long-term success.

    Curriculum

    Understand how family relationships shape decision-making and business success. Learn tools and frameworks that help families better manage their decision-making processes.

    Family businesses need leaders at every level. By understanding your leadership style, you’ll be better able to influence relatives and non-family employees alike. This module shows how to create a healthy culture while leading with credibility.

    Be able to build a competitive advantage over other businesses with in-depth strategies. Analyze value sources in products and services and learn how to turn strategic plans into action.

    Family firms thrive when they innovate. Learn how to approach problems with fresh thinking, reduce internal barriers, and drive solutions that honor family traditions while adapting for future success.

    For a business to be successful and sustainable, it needs to be profitable and maximize shareholder value. Learn how to conduct basic analyses to make informed decisions. Understand ethical dilemmas and how to handle those tough situations.

    Learn how to create and capture value in your firm’s market. Experience market dynamics. Learn what it takes to keep a business running effectively by finding the right balance between the marginal costs of a decision and its marginal costs.

    Learn how family businesses can make better decisions using data. Explore process improvement, supply chains, and quality systems while discovering how analytics tools can guide growth, improve efficiency, and support long-term stability.

    Family owners play a unique role in guiding the future of the business. Learn about the rights and responsibilities of ownership, how to align family shareholders, and ways to build governance that supports long-term continuity.
    Managing people in a family business is a unique business dynamic. Explore how hiring, retention, and culture-building support both family and non-family employees, ensuring alignment with strategy, governance, and shared values.

    Being able to protect yourself and your organization is a valuable skill. You’ll learn how to make business decisions in a way that aligns with organizational goals with an understanding of potential legal risk and ethical considerations.

    Gain an understanding of core marketing concepts and frameworks and be able to implement them. Discover your market segments and understand consumer behavior to best market to your audience in an effective and efficient way.

    Explore how strategy in a family business differs from non-family firms. Learn how to align business goals with family values, ownership expectations, and long-term continuity to create plans that serve both the family and the business.

    Passing leadership to the next generation is one of the most important steps in a family business. Explore strategies for preparing successors, setting expectations, and ensuring a smooth transition that protects both business and family harmony.

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